I remember my wife and I had lunch at a restaurant next to a cathedral ?? in northern France. Surprised the restaurant had a fairly large staff that were obviously slightly hostile towards Americans. They even laughed about a nearby table of young french 'hooligans' who were obviously making ocmments, in French, so we could not understand [they thought]. The table became so loud at one point an elderly gentleman at another table [obviously circa WWII era, and happy for US intervention] stopped them with chiding comments. well for a while anyway.
When we got the bill, I noticed the waiter had charged us for one bowl of soup, but we had had two as part of our lunch, and I could NOT pass up the opportunity. As I took the bill over to the waiter, the look on his face was complete disdain and an attitude of "Get this American, ALWAYS questioning the bill!" But when I showed it to him and explained we had two, not one soup, and the bill should be corrected, because I owed more; his face went from disdain to 'incredulous'. As we left, we noticed he was taking the bill around to the other waiters and describing what had just happened. We still think back fondly to that opportunity to gain some "on". Cost, about $1, Memories, priceless.
That is immaterial. You're not looking at the big picture. If everyone is aware that their extra money is dependent on the overall level of service, not just their own performance, then there is tremendous peer pressure to not screw up and service levels go up.
The reality of tipping is that it's now more than not paying for poor performance than paying for acceptable performance. A server really needs to perform spectacularly well to get a tip over 20% and especially poorly to get a tip lower than 15%.
Personally, I began tipping 20% of the food total rather than 15% of the total after a friend of mine told me of the idea behind this. Restaurant food in the U.S. is priced aggressively low and beverages are priced very high. So fewer and fewer customers are ordering beverages which hurts the wait staff when it comes to tips. But if you do order an expensive drink it's pretty ridiculous to tip 15% on a $100 bottle of wine.
If beer and wine and soda are not outrageously priced at a restaurant, not more than 3X the cost to buy the same beverage at a liquor store or other market, then the decline could be reversed. A bad beer should not cost more than $2.50 and a good beer should not cost more than $4 ($5 for Guinness).
Also, if a restaurant does not put drink prices on the menu then I won't order any drinks. I'm not going to start asking the wait-person the price of everything.
Fine. Let's agree to table your point just for the moment. We can then attempt a quick thought experiment. Maybe it will put a finer edge on it for you?
Substitute government for restaurant owner. Substitute paying your taxes for the act of tipping. Substitute a desire to nuke North Korea for the desire to reward good resta urant service.
Following your logic, every penny I pay in taxes goes directly to fund miss le research and development - and it just isn't so.
I might claim (and might even believe) that my actions reward/influence a p articular desired outcome. Hell, I might even tip more (ie., pay additiona l taxes) if I thought the government could build a better bomb.
But the reality is the money is just going into a large pot, and has practi cally no correlation to what I think that money is actually doing.
Your rebuttal would be greatly enhanced if you were to claim you "intended" for your tipping practices to reward good service (i.e., that that's what you are in effect "buying"). I would agree with that. I would not agree t hat your money is IN ACTUALITY rewarding good service, or for that matter, even correlated to it.
So, again, just to be clear: I accept that you INTEND your tipping (or lack thereof) to reflect your lev el of satisfaction with regard to a restaurant worker's performance. I acc ept that you even believe the two actions are tightly coupled - even though I provided proof that the correlation is only about 4%. My statement (not even addressed to you, BTW) was: "But you're not really paying for performance." The "not really" part of that is addressing the 96% remainder, in case you were wondering..
I, and others, then went on to explain how restaurants subsidize labor cost s through tipping, etc... (The IRS allows it, by the way.)
Frankly, I don't really care either way. I tip too, on occasion.
But when I do, I try to do it with eyes-open to what is really going on. If I have some reason to suspect that the person who provided me with excel lent service will not receive the full benefit of my tip (or that my money is just subsiding operating costs of the establishment), I will generally w ithhold it, or find some other non-cash way to compensate for the service. For example, I may tip the elderly lady who cuts my hair with a gift card instead of cash, or a box of chocolates from Hawaii.
Hunh? WTH? How do you get this one? I have some experience (first job) in the American food service industry. There is no link between the two, neither causal nor casual.
Not sure how you can say that. If tipping were banned or just fell out of favor, food service would have to pay more reasonable wages and prices would increase significantly.
To some extent tipping lets waitstaff profit share. When business is slow they make less, when business is good they make more. Not a terrible thing.
Even if there is no direct correlation between the size of the tip and the service received, both parties have this expectation so each will act as if it were true which is the whole point.
I don't believe that matters. The IRS has come to grips with the whole tipping problem and have picked a percentage number for tips. I don't recall the number, but I'm told the restaurant reports as tip income a percentage of the checks the waitstaff serves. I suppose you could challenge this with enough documentation, but how do you prove a table
*didn't* leave a tip or that a cash tip was smaller than the IRS expects?
I started tipping at 20% when I used to go out with a couple of buddies and when it came time to tip we would haggle over a dollar. I would just put the extra dollar on the table saying, "what would you do for a dollar?" So I would just give the borderline dollar to the waitperson.
Then one night my buddies took me to a gentleman's club in Georgetown and I learned what some ladies would do for a dollar. :)
d" for your tipping practices to reward good service (i.e., that that's wha t you are in effect "buying"). I would agree with that. I would not agree that your money is IN ACTUALITY rewarding good service, or for that matter , even correlated to it.
evel of satisfaction with regard to a restaurant worker's performance. I a ccept that you even believe the two actions are tightly coupled - even thou gh I provided proof that the correlation is only about 4%.
You really have a problem with reading comprehension. I have not said that I intend my tipping to do anything or what my beliefs are. What I have sa id is that you have no idea of my thoughts or practices as far as tipping i s concerned.
Once again. "> > As I previously said, you have no idea of what I do, and yet desperately want to claim that you do know."
ded" for your tipping practices to reward good service (i.e., that that's w hat you are in effect "buying"). I would agree with that. I would not agr ee that your money is IN ACTUALITY rewarding good service, or for that matt er, even correlated to it.
level of satisfaction with regard to a restaurant worker's performance. I accept that you even believe the two actions are tightly coupled - even th ough I provided proof that the correlation is only about 4%.
t I intend my tipping to do anything or what my beliefs are. What I have said is that you have no idea of my thoughts or practices as far as tipping is concerned.
nd yet desperately want to claim that you do know."
Wow. Talk about lack of comprehension!!! IT DOES NOT MATTER WHAT YOUR THOUGHTS ARE.
What you THINK you are doing, and what you are ACTUALLY doing are two diffe rent things. What your BELIEFS are that drive what you THINK you are doing are yet a third thing.
There are only two choices: You either THINK you are paying for performance, or you don't.
EITHER WAY, the correlation between paying and performance has been establi shed as "astonishingly low"!!, per the evidence provided earlier and totall y unrefuted by YOU!
Thus my comment (to which you take so much offense) that "You're not really paying for performance" is commpletely reasonable and accurate. And, by t he way, was NOT EVEN ADDRESSED TO YOU, so the "You're" part of that stateme nt, strictly speaking, doesn't even apply to you.
Your ENTIRE POINT seems to be that nobody can know what is going on inside your head when you decide how much a tip should be based on performance. ( Agreed, though at this point I am prepared to make some educated guesses.) This POST is about the established lack of correlation between tipping amo unt and perceived level of restaurant service.
AT BEST, you claim to be an outlier (i.e., part of that 4%). So, I (and others) reminded you that in many circumstances, your money does not go to anyone involved in the level of service you received. Thus, you r payment and purchase are disconnected (in reality of course, not in your head). So, technically, you don't know what you're buying - you only think you do. You BELIEVE you are performing action-A, but are actually performi ng action-B. (NOTE HERE: It does not matter what you THINK the performed action is, only that they are DIFFERENT!)
It could be that your tip (pooled or not) barely brings up her salary to mi nimum wage requirements, that the restaurant proprietor would otherwise hav e to chip in to meet. In this case, it's a clear subsidy to the restaurant owner. You THINK you are paying for good service. What you are actually p aying is a share of the restaurant's operating expenses. Hence the disconn ect. Hence the statement "You're not really paying for performance."
It could be that your tip is pooled, and is being distributed to personnel who had absolutely nothing to do with your perceived level of service. In which case, ONLY THAT PORTION of your tip making it to the right hands supp orts your position. The rest supports mine, i.e., that you're not really p aying for performance. BY DEFINITION.
It could also be that you are in a large dinner party and an 18% gratituity is added automatically to the bill. If paid, there may (or may not) be an y connection at all to the level of service. Thus once again, you're not r eally paying for performance. IN ACTUAL FACT, you are paying a "Service Ch arge", as is further evidenced by recent IRS Rules that convert automatic g ratuities to taxable wages.
Nominally, i never tip as it does no good. However, there was one exception at a restaurant on Telegraph (Berzerkley) where it took almost a half an hour to get served; all other tables being satisfied long before. Food was not really worth the tab. Fortunately, i had a lot of change. Made it a point to go up front and pay at the cash register ONE CENT less than the bill, and said that was the tip for the service - and walked out. Maybe that got the correlation up from the 4% to maybe 8%. Did get their attention.
What a small mind that can only think in black and white.
lished as "astonishingly low"!!, per the evidence provided earlier and tota lly unrefuted by YOU!
I never cared so why would I try to refute anything. What I did comment on was that you claim to know what people think, when you really don't.
ly paying for performance" is commpletely reasonable and accurate. And, by the way, was NOT EVEN ADDRESSED TO YOU, so the "You're" part of that state ment, strictly speaking, doesn't even apply to you.
So now you are trying to say that you write something in S.E.D. and use the word " you're " and now claim that that was a special " you " and not inte nded for anyone that reads S.E.D. What a idiot!
e your head when you decide how much a tip should be based on performance. (Agreed, though at this point I am prepared to make some educated guesses. ) This POST is about the established lack of correlation between tipping a mount and perceived level of restaurant service.
My posts have been about how imprecise your posts are.
I do not claim anything. Do not claim to think that tipping is good or ba d. Do not claim to be an outlier. Again one more time , I only claim that you do not know my thoughts.
es not go to anyone involved in the level of service you received.
What horse pucky.
Thus, your payment and purchase are disconnected (in reality of course, no t in your head). So, technically, you don't know what you're buying - you o nly think you do. You BELIEVE you are performing action-A, but are actuall y performing action-B. (NOTE HERE: It does not matter what you THINK the performed action is, only that they are DIFFERENT!)
More horse pucky.
minimum wage requirements, that the restaurant proprietor would otherwise h ave to chip in to meet. In this case, it's a clear subsidy to the restauran t owner. You THINK you are paying for good service. What you are actually paying is a share of the restaurant's operating expenses. Hence the disco nnect. Hence the statement "You're not really paying for performance."
When I go to a restaurant, I always pay a share of the restaurant's operati ng expenses. The only way that I would not be doing that is if I skipped out and did not pay my bill.
l who had absolutely nothing to do with your perceived level of service. I n which case, ONLY THAT PORTION of your tip making it to the right hands su pports your position. The rest supports mine, i.e., that you're not really paying for performance. BY DEFINITION.
It could also be that my tip is not pooled and therefore none of it suppor ts your position. But that has nothing to do with whether or not I pay for performance.
ty is added automatically to the bill. If paid, there may (or may not) be any connection at all to the level of service. Thus once again, you're not really paying for performance. IN ACTUAL FACT, you are paying a "Service Charge", as is further evidenced by recent IRS Rules that convert automatic gratuities to taxable wages.
It could also be that I never go to large dinner parties. So your stateme nts are meaningless.
I think that you are not able to express yourself or think clearly.
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